Fandom: Prince of Tennis
Title: ABOUT TENNIS
Characters: Fuji Syuusuke/Tezuka Kunimitzu [Seigaku] + Fuji/Tachibana Kippei [Fudoumine]
Rating: PG
Author on LJ: misanagi
Author Website: a Gundam Wing fanfiction site unrelated to Prince of Tennis

Why this story must be read:

This appears to be the only fanfiction Misanagi has written for the Prince of Tennis fandom, but it's a quiet, well-structured story and a satisfying romance based around themes of wistfulness that colours so many fanfictions about Fuji. What makes this particularly nice is the emotional dynamism of Tachibana Kippei who knows who he wants and makes no secret about going after it, and Fuji illustrates how the counterpunching style works off the tennis courts.

ABOUT TENNIS

Fandom: NCIS
Pairing:The majority of this story is Donald 'Ducky' Mallard & Abigail Sciuto (gen). But there is also a side order of Jimmy Palmer/Michelle Lee (het).
Length: 2,684
Author on LJ: periwinkle27
Author Website: Periwinkle's Fan Fiction

Why this must be read:

A lot of people will know Periwinkle firstly and foremostly as a top-rate beta reader, but she is also a writer - and a very good one at that. Normally Periwinkle writes slash (Gibbs/Ducky) in NCIS, but this time she has written an excellent story that is mainly gen with a bit of het towards the end.

Ducky and Abby are two of my favourite characters, and are part of my two OTPs, so it was a mixture that I hoped would produce a jolly good story. Periwinkle did not disappoint. Abby and Ducky are both working late one evening and neither are willing to go home, just in case Gibbs needs either of them. Ducky persuades Abby to go out for a late supper with him and the scene is a lovely one, fully of deep friendship and affection and contains gentle humour and excellent banter between two people who not only like one another but respect one another too.

They then return to the office for a cup of tea, but things do not quite go as expected and discoveries are made.

It's well written, has excellent characterisation, shows deep friendship, is based fully on canon and is clear to hear and see. And Periwinkle definitely knows when 'less is more'. I know for a fact that Periwinkle struggled with the prompt she was given and at times was less than happy with the story. But for me it is one of her top stories - it really is well worth reading.

( Extract )

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Tea And Company (note this is an off-LJ link).

Should you wish to leave feedback for Periwinkle on this story you can do so here.

Fandom: Bandom
Pairing: Bert/Gerard (The Used/MCR)
Author on LJ: sinsense
Author Website: she does not appear to have one
Why this must be read: When I first started reading MCR fic one of the many things I discovered very rapidly is that the traditional villain in that world is Bert McCracken from the band The Used. Since I've been in fandoms before, I didn't really care whether or not Bert deserved that treatment since narrative often has very little intersection with truth. As time progressed, I decided I completely rejected the Bert as the bad guy trope—mostly because I find him vastly amusing and also pretty awesome.

(The reason Bert is characterized like Opposite Day has a lot to do with the Myth of Gerard's sobriety. Bert gets cast as The Dude Who Drug Gerard Down/enabler/crazy drunk idiot/so on.)

THIS STORY subverts the traditional Bert characterization in every possible way. Starting with: he's a she. It's not genderswap—Bert was born a girl in this story. There's a lot of gender-play in MCR stories because the band themselves makes grandiose statements about gender and social norms. Here the author shows Gerard's gender issues through interacting with a girl (of all things!). Mostly it's a portrait of some screwed up people. The intra-band MCR dynamics are also glorious.

This Bert broke my heart over and over again. What's it like to fall in love with the most clueless creature on the planet (especially when you have a self-defeating attitude and do way too many drugs)?


Secret Cave

Fandom: POPSLASH
Pairing: Brian/Nick
Length: 1,117 words
Author on LJ: bellamyrose
Author Website: Sharing the Insanity
Why this must be read: Okay this is the last of the "stories I'm biased about" recs. This was the story written for me in 2007's Make the Yuletide Gay challenge, and while because of that it has a special place in my heart, it's not why I'm rec'ing it. It's not even because Brian/Nick is my OTP. It takes a lot to write a flat out PWP without making it sound choppy and being porn for porn's sake. So, I guess this isn't PWP. It's porn, but it's really admission of feelings. You can tell in the story that Brian's realizing how much he wants this.

( Teaser )

"Merging Into More"

Fandom: FIREFLY
Pairing: Mal/Simon…sorta
Length: around 5700
Author on LJ: gritkitty
Author Website: grit kitty's alley
Why this must be read: This is the only Firefly fic by this author, which is a real shame. The timeline isn't clear, but Wash and Book don't show so it's possibly post-movie. Sir Warwick Harrow hires Mal for another job.

We don't get too much comedy in this fandom, at least not comedy with plot, but this is one of the exceptions. Harrow hires Mal to buy back something rather silly (from Mal's POV, anyway) from a rival; but the job requires a gentleman, so Simon volunteers. Inara just goes along for the ride. Mal's eventual panic is hilarious, as is Inara's reaction to the whole thing. It's not strictly slash (see pairing *g*) but it's worth the read.

Blue Willow

EDIT: Thank you magician113 for the new link!

Fandom: DOCTOR WHO
Characters: Rose Tyler, Donna Noble
Author on LJ: orange_crushed
Author Website: none found
Length: ~720 words

Why this must be read: Unbelievably gorgeous Turn Left fic: this fills in the little missing bits perfectly. It's Rose and her armour and her hope and her life; hopping universes, finding Donna, and some heart-breaking, absolutely wonderfully written realizations. It's got a touch of humour, and is full of devotion and dedication. Both women come off so beautifully here: this is a small revelation of a story.

The mission

Fandom: THE SENTINEL
Pairing: Jim/Blair
Length: ~ 2k
Author on LJ: spikedluv
Author Website: here, although you'll probably find more of her TS fic on her LJ
Why this must be read:

This was written for wave 6 of sentinelsecrets, a semi-regular challenge on LJ where writers are given a prompt, the stories are posted anonymously, and then readers try and guess who wrote what. The prompt for this wave was "He couldn't begin to imagine what he'd done to deserve this", and spikedluv delivers a sweet and hot little slice of life in which Jim does his best to take care of Blair after Blair has a bad day. Who can resist a story with dialogue like this?

Blair felt cold when Jim pulled away. "Let me go check on it. I got some of those rolls you like, too. The wheat nut ones."

Blair rolled his head on the couch, looked over the back at Jim. "You are, like, the best boyfriend ever."

Jim just grinned and shook his head as he held his hand over the soup, checking whether it was warm enough.

Balance